Wisconsin man arrested for punching two males for speaking “Spanish”

A Wisconsin man was arrested last Saturday after he punched two men he believed were speaking Spanish – even though it turns out the pair were conversing in Hebrew, not Spanish.

Dylan T. Grall, 23, was walking down Henry Street in Madison, WI just after 2:00 AM when he passed by two men he believed were speaking Spanish. According to the police incident report, Grall proceeded to swear at the pair and “demanded they speak English.” He then punched each of the two men in the face, leaving one with a swollen eye, while the other victim fell to the ground with the impact of the assault.

“The suspect denied delivering blows, but did acknowledge telling the men to speak English,” reads the police report. “However, he thought they were talking in Spanish.”

The incident was witnessed by an independent witness, who told police that the pair were definitely speaking in Hebrew, not Spanish.

Grall arrested on two counts of battery with a hate crime “enhancer,” which according to local city law “increases the potential penalty of a crime.”

The 23-year-old hails from Janesville, WI, a small city just 44 miles from the capitol city of Madison. According to the 2010 Census, Janesville is home to a population of 64,575 people that’s 5.4 percent Latino and 91.7 percent White.